A Room of Her Own Foundation [2] (AROHO), named after one of Virginia Woolf’s prerequisites for a life of writing—the other being money—has created a new opportunity for a woman poet to win some of the latter, plus publication. The organization, which offers the biennial fifty-thousand-dollar Gift of Freedom Award, recently announced the first To the Lighthouse Poetry Publication Prize [3], a one-thousand-dollar award that includes publication of the winning poetry collection by Red Hen Press [4].

Poets may submit a 48- to 96-page manuscript by September 30, along with an entry fee of twenty dollars and a cover sheet available on the AROHO Web site. Red Hen Press editor Kate Gale [5] will judge, and the winner will be announced on November 15.

(For women writers looking to realize a significant project, the next Gift of Freedom Award, given in 2008 to fiction writer Barb Johnson [6] of New Orleans, will be offered in 2010.)

Later this summer, Persea Books [7] and Perugia Press [8] will open their contests for poetry collections by women. Persea Books will accept submissions for its Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize [9] from September 1 to November 2, and Perugia's Poetry Prize [10] for a first or second book will run from August 1 to November 15.